At Trustees Meeting, University President Addresses Title IX Complaint

October 23, 2013|By KATHLEEN MEGAN, kmegan@courant.com

STORRS — UConn President Susan Herbst delivered an impassioned defense of the university Wednesday, saying that the suggestion that the school is "indifferent to or dismissive of any report of sexual assault is astonishingly misguided and demonstrably untrue."

"This is so obvious to those of us who work here and deal with these serious and painful issues that I am stunned that I even have to say it," Herbst told the board of trustees.

"I cannot speak to the motivations of people who have suggested this," she said

Herbst was disturbed by allegations made Monday by seven current and former students who filed a Title IX complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, charging that the university failed to protect them from sexual assault on campus and did not respond adequately after they reported the assaults. Four of the students appeared at a news conference in Hartford with their high-profile civil rights lawyer, Gloria Allred.

"This is a university that is devoting extraordinary resources toward preventing sexual violence in all its forms, to creating a safe environment for our students," Herbst said, "and to providing countless resources for victims of sexual crimes."

Herbst said that "as individuals, we have nothing but heartfelt compassion for any victim of sexual violence, anywhere."

As one of the few female leaders at a large public research university, Herbst said that during her career, she has dealt with "some of the most gruesome issues related to sexual assault and also to sexual harassment."

"So, yes, it's very personal to me as a woman leader," Herbst said. "…I take the pain of victims very seriously."

Allred, in an email responding to Herbst's comments late Wednesday afternoon, said that the UConn president "does not want to acknowledge that there is a problem. She wants to make believe that all of these women that have filed complaints against UConn are malcontents that simply have it wrong."

"No, President Herbst, it is you that has it wrong," Allred said. "You cannot hide behind your gender. This problem is real and unless and until the UConn administration is willing to open its eyes and look at the problem objectively and take steps to remedy the problems it will continue."

A small group of UConn students attending the trustees' meeting said afterward that they were disappointed in Herbst's response.

Monisha Rao, a senior, said that she would have respected Herbst more "if she had said we are taking these allegations seriously and we're going to look into them instead of saying that these women are misguided. I feel really disheartened that I can't stand behind our first woman president because I don't think she's doing enough to protect students on campus."

Rao said that she carries pepper spray with her on campus wherever she goes.

Kristina Barsczewski, a senior, said that Herbst's comments were aimed at "saving face and making it look like UConn is making all these great strides." She said that, in reality, that isn't the case.

Herbst's comments came two days after a news conference at which Carolyn Luby, a current UConn student and the lead plaintiff in the Title IX case, said that when she experienced sexual harassment, the university responded with "resounding silence" and has showed "deliberate indifference" to the existence of a "rape culture" on campus.

Another complainant in the case, Rose Richi, a UConn junior, said at the news conference that when she told her story of a sexual assault to a UConn police detective, he "made it clear my experience did not matter. He even told me he did not believe me."

And, Kylie Angell, who graduated from UConn in May, said at the news conference that she was told by university staff after a campus hearing that her assailant had been expelled, only to be confronted by him two weeks later in a dining hall.

Herbst said that because of federal privacy regulations, the university cannot comment about specific cases unless the student signs a document waiving those rights.

This means, she said, that "anyone is free to make any allegation they choose to, and we are extremely limited in what we can say in response."

But she did address a case that appeared to be Angell's, although Herbst did not name her. Herbst said in certain circumstances, the university should notify a student that another student — who might have been expelled or suspended — is returning to campus.

"It is my understanding that this notification did not take place in a case that occurred three years ago, and it should have," Herbst said. "This process was corrected."

On the allegations that UConn police were insensitive or unresponsive, Herbst said: "It was very difficult this week to hear our UConn police officers painted as uncaring, insensitive and rude. …They too are human and care about this campus and student body, more than nearly any group."